DORSET-based musicians Billy Bragg and Simon Emmerson, the Grammy- nominated musician and producer behind Trans-Global Underground, have united to bring an exiciting new musical project to Poole's Lighthouse next Wednesday.

The Imagined Village has recast the ancient English folk traditions in the modern world by melding traditional folk songs and instruments with contemporary sounds and beats.

As fiddles and squeezeboxes meet sitar and dub beats, both have been talking to the Echo about their project which also features musical luminaries such as Martin and Eliza Carthy, Paul Weller, Benjamin Zephaniah, Sheila Chandra, Chris Wood and The Copper Family.

"If you could have seen Simon's glee at getting English folk music added to Womad this year - it had bugged him for years that Celtic music was welcome but not English," says Billy.

"Sometimes us Anglo-Saxons are we're a little reticent to remind people that bagpipes aren't all Scottish - there's a fine Northumbrian tradition of pipes. The kilt is identified with Scotland but the region is far wider. It's like not all Germans wear lederhosen."

The project started life some four years ago when Simon met Billy and Chris after a radio discussion on national identity.

"There were several English musicians at Trans-Global Underground's old studio in Islington where Pink Floyd made The Wall, but it's a very organic project based on a lot of goodwill between some very busy English musicians," says Simon.

"The tour has been a year in the making, but other than the Womad show we haven't played it live. We're rehearsing it up at Bridport Arts Centre.

"It is inescapably a contemproary English folk record though and yet we are in the World music section in Amazon and on iTunes - it seems that an English musician singing a traditional English song is folk music but add an Indian flute and it becomes World Music even though it's played by an English person."

n Get your Magazine with this Saturday's Echo for the full interview with Simon and Billy